Hal Jordan is one of 3,600 members of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic peacekeeping organization supervised by the Guardians of the Universe. The Green Lanterns use their power rings to channel their willpower, creating anything they can imagine.

When Hal receives word of attacks on Green Lanterns on the far reaches of the galaxy, he and his comrade Kilowog steal an experimental interceptor ship with an AI computer, Aya, and depart to investigate the deaths of their comrades. They discover a new organization, the Red Lanterns, that have vowed to destroy the Guardians for their crimes against the galaxy. Led by Atrocitus, Hal and Kilowog are stranded millions of light-years from home and must make a stand against a superior force of huggers who have vowed to destroy them at all costs.